She Never Deserved This
by Operas'n'Cartoons1883
Summary: A response to Gravity Fallen by sunny123781. What if Mabel didn't make it when the portal collapsed? AU where Stan does see his brother again, but his brother's reappearance comes at a terrible price. Rated T because of character death.


She Never Deserved This

**Prompt:** A response to Gravity Fallen by sunny123781. What if Mabel didn't make it when the portal collapsed? AU

**Warning:** Death of a beloved character

Dipper, Mabel, and Soos had approached the lever of the portal, now showing its emergency shutdown button. Dipper stared resolutely at the button as he shouted, "This all stops…NOW!"

Just then, Stan entered the lab and, panting, he cried out, "DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!"

There was a long pause, as Dipper turned his head to Stan, glaring at him. Stan was drenched in the light of the portal, but he was a long distance from the other three.

Finally, Stan approached Dipper as he said, "Dipper, just back away. Please don't press that shutdown button. Ya gotta trust me."

This prompted Dipper to blurt out, "And I should trust you why?! After you stole radioactive waste?! After you lied to us all summer?! I don't even know who you are!"

But Stan continued, "Look. I know this all seems nuts, but I need that machine to stay on. If you'd just let me explain…"

Just then, the ground began to shake as another gravity anomaly began. "Oh, no!" Stan screamed. "Brace yourselves!"

And the portal opened as Stan, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos floated off the ground into the air! And they weren't the only ones. The Mystery Shack was rumbling as a totem pole and a goat floated into the air. Some cars and trucks and even some government vehicles floated as well. In fact, the entire town was losing its gravity as the sky turned blood red.

Meanwhile, back in the lab, there were thirty-five seconds left in the countdown. All four of the people present were struggling for a support to prevent themselves from being sucked into the portal. As Dipper grabbed onto a large piece of wood, he noticed his sister Mabel attached to a rope, crying out, "Dipper!"

He then told his sister, "Mabel! Hurry! Shut it down!"

Mabel then grabbed the rope and climbed across it to the lever.

Stan, seeing what Mabel was doing, swam through the zero-gravity air towards her, crying, "No! Mabel, wait! Stop!"

Presently, he felt himself being hit and attacked by Soos, of all people! Exasperated, Stan sputtered, "Soos! What are you doing?! I gave you an order!"

"Sorry, Mr. Pines, if that is your real name," Soos told his surrogate father. "But I have a new mission now: protecting these kids!"

"Soos, you idiot! Let me go!" Stan cried.

Just then, Dipper flew towards Stan to try to stop him, and he shouted, "Mabel, press the red button! Shut it down!"

"No, you can't! Ya gotta trust me!" Stan shouted to Mabel.

Finally, Mabel, torn by having to choose between her two favorite people in the world, uttered, "Grunkle Stan, I don't even know if you're my grunkle." It was clear that she was weeping, her tears floating into the air. "I wanna believe you, but…"

"Then listen to me!" said Stan, concerned for Mabel. "Remember this morning when I said I wanted to tell you guys something?"

Now, there were twenty seconds left in the countdown. A blinding light shone in front of everyone and thrust Stan, Dipper, and Soos to the wall as Mabel still clung to the lever.

As Mabel prepared to press the red button, Stan said to her, "I wanted to say that you're gonna hear some bad things about me, and some of them are true, but trust me, everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family!"

But Dipper listened to none of that and shouted, "Mabel, what if he's lying? This thing could destroy the universe! Listen to your head!"

"Look into my eyes, Mabel!" Stan begged plaintively. "Do you really think I'm a bad guy?"

"He's lying!" screamed Dipper. "Shut it down now!"

"Mabel, please!"

Mabel couldn't believe it. Stan said "please" without the usual grumbling or burning sensation he would feel in any other situation. As the last ten seconds of the countdown flew by, bolts of electricity zapped from the portal. Then Mabel looked into her great-uncle's saddened eyes, and she knew what to do.

"Grunkle Stan," she uttered from her heart. "I trust you." And with that, she let go of the lever and floated up to the portal.

Exasperated, Dipper cried out, "Mabel, are you crazy?! We're all gonna…"

As the countdown reached zero, a flash of bright white light shone from the portal, surrounding everyone. The Shack floated off its foundation, the entire city was being thrown up into the air, and it looked like the entire universe was about to be destroyed!

Thankfully, the universe was not destroyed. The gravity returned, the Shack, slightly in ruins, was brought back down, and everything in the city that floated in the air was brought back down to earth.

Back in the lab, Dipper, Stan, and Soos seemed to be okay, albeit with some scratches and bruises in various parts. As Dipper rubbed his head, he opened his eyes and saw a mysterious man emerge from the now-ruined portal. The man was wearing a long-coat, boots, a mask, and goggles. As he approached Journal 1, he placed his six-fingered hand on the cover and stashed it into one of the pockets of his coat.

"What?" asked Dipper incredulously. "Who is that?"

Stan then opened his eyes and answered Dipper's question, "The author of the journals. My brother."

And the man unmasked himself to reveal that it was so, but he was, somehow, younger-looking… and wearing rounder glasses that had a single crack in them.

Dipper was surprised that both Stan and Mabel were right the whole time, while Soos was so shocked at the revelation he fainted.

"Wait," Dipper asked inquisitively. "If Stan's my great-uncle, then that must mean the Author is my grandfather?"

"That is correct, Dipper," Stan answered affirmatively. Then he saw Mabel lying on the ground, and, rushing to her, told her, "Mabel, sweetie, wake up! Don't ya wanna see your grandpa? Mabel?"

He then noticed something he wished he'd never see: a large spot of blood staining Mabel's sweater, signifying that Mabel was lying dead before him. In spite of the fact that she had died so suddenly, her eyes and mouth were closed, as if she was only sleeping peacefully. This made poor Stan extremely unhappy, for he never wanted to outlive either of the twins.

"Mabel, please, get up!" he shouted- no, _pleaded_. "Mabel, you trusted me, see? My portal worked. You didn't shut it down. Get up and your grandfather will give you a congratulatory hug!"

Finally, Stan was so upset in fact, that he forgot that two men and a boy were standing behind him and he began sobbing like a child, tears running down his face and falling onto Mabel's inert form, as he clasped it in his arms.

"Why?" he lamented. "Dammit! Why?! It's not fair! She trusted me, and this is what she gets! She never deserved this! She deserved to see her grandfather, her reward for trusting me! I was the one who should have died!"

And the only thing that gave him enough spirit to go on at that point was the fact that Mabel, in her moment of death, had let go of her doubts and given him her trust.

As Dipper saw his usually grumbling grunkle in tears, he felt some sympathy and gasped out, "Grunkle Stan. You…you and Mabel…were right all along."

And he bowed his head solemnly, while the Author stared in tearless grief at Mabel, the granddaughter he never knew.

_The End._

_By the way, why is it that in every trashy fanfic I write, Mabel dies? I mean, she, along with Stan and Soos, is one of my top three favorite characters. Maybe my inner demons just like to torture Stan a little and make him cry his eyes out._


End file.
